Warriors - Burnt Skies

Chapter 16

Nightstorm blinked in the sudden dawn light. She had just exited the tunnel behind Blizzardfrost, Dawnbreeze and Emberheart, none of them having talked after waking up.

"It's dawn," Nightstorm meowed. "We were in there longer than I thought."

"It's always like that with StarClan," Dawnbreeze replied. "And they always do the most unexpected things."

"Tell me about it," Blizzardfrost snorted. "First they give us some mysterious prophecy telling us to find this place, then they randomly give us our full names, and now they want us to just make an entire Clan!"

"We already have three warriors and a medicine cat," Emberheart pointed out. "It can't be that hard."

Nightstorm privately thought that it was going to be incredibly hard, but didn't voice her thoughts. Instead she tried to be optimistic.

"Where will we find cats willing to come with us that preferably doesn't turn our future Clan into a ragtag group of rogues?" Blizzardfrost asked, seeming to get more annoyed with the plan every passing second.

That sparked something in Nightstorm's mind.

"Well, we have met two cats who would make great Clanmates," she pointed out.

Dawnbreeze's eyes lit up and she pricked her ears. "Shadow and Spirit!"

"Of course! We have to take care of Spirit anyway and might as well ask Shadow as well," Emberheart meowed.

Blizzardfrost narrowed his eyes. "We should sort out other things like the camp and territory before getting Spirit. He'll only get in the way."

"That's a bit of a harsh way of putting it," Dawnbreeze paused before meowing, "But I think you are right."

Nightstorm nodded, flicking her tail decisively. "It would be a good idea to find a place for camp, and then mark the territory based off its location."

Her three companions, her new Clanmates, nodded, Emberheart doing so enthusiastically.

They waded through the swamp again, Nightstorm careful not to have any incidents with frogs again. Frogs. She shuddered. If the swamp was to become a part of their territory, she was going to avoid it like greencough.

"We need to come up with a name for our Clan," Dawnbreeze pointed out as they waded through the thick water.

Blizzardfrost nodded, hauling himself onto dry land with thick furred, muddy forepaws. Nightstorm followed, shaking her fur out as she exited the water. Emberheart hopped up neatly beside her.

"What about BirchClan?" The calico tom suggested, waving his tail at the silver birches around them. "After the silver birches."

Nightstorm tilted her head, considering it.

"That's a nice name for a Clan," she meowed. "And since no one seems to have any better ideas, my vote goes to BirchClan."

Dawnbreeze nodded in agreement. "I like it. The silver birches are a distinctive characteristic of this territory, after all."

Blizzardfrost rolled his eyes. "If you ask me, it's a bit simple."

Nightstorm raised her eyebrows, letting her yellow gaze rest on the tom beside her. "Do you have any better ideas, O Wise One?"

Blizzardfrost gave a huff of annoyance as a twig got tangled in his fur. He gripped the small, thin piece of wood between his teeth and yanked it hard, but it did not come loose.

"No," the tabby tom conceded, glaring at the twig through slitted eyes.

He tried yanking it again, but the resulting effect was it becoming more tangled in his long fur.

Emberheart made a noise that sounded like he was trying very hard to not laugh. Nightstorm twitched her whiskers in amusement and Dawnbreeze gave a soft purr from beside her.

Blizzardfrost growled, and Nightstorm nudged him. "I can help," she offered, slowly prising the twig out with her claws.

"Thanks," Blizzardfrost grumbled as the twig fell to the ground.

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Nightstorm scanned the trees, determined to find a suitable place to make a camp. Blizzardfrost trailed after her, whilst Emberheart and Dawnbreeze chatted amiably behind them.

"There's a ridge," Blizzardfrost pointed out, nodding to the section of higher ground just in front of them.

Nightstorm leaped up onto the ledge, taking in the surroundings. In the direction that they had came, land stretched out, with silver birches spread evenly and a small river (which they had just walked past) wound its way through. In the distance, the swamp could be seen as a large murky blob.

"That river probably floods in leaf-fall," Blizzardfrost pointed out. "So having a camp up here would probably be a good idea."

Nightstorm glanced at the tabby tom beside her. The grey tabby tom could be pretty clever when he wanted to.

"Has getting your warrior name somehow matured you?" Dawnbreeze asked, twitching her whiskers slightly.

"I was mature anyway," Blizzardfrost defended himself, his tail lashing from side to side.

Nightstorm pricked her ears as she saw Emberheart standing quite a few fox lengths away from her, waving his tail animatedly. She bounded over, with Dawnbreeze and Blizzardfrost on her tail.

"What is it?" She asked, skidding to a halt beside the calico tom.

As Emberheart opened his muzzle to speak, the black she cat noticed what the tom had been pointing out. The land dropped away before her paws, forming a large depression in the ground. The perfect place for a camp.

"Do you think it would be suitable?" Emberheart asked hopefully, settling his warm amber gaze on her.

Nightstorm studied the hollow, picturing WindClan's old camp in the back of her mind. It seemed a similar size to her old camp, so it should theoretically work.

"Probably," the black she cat responded.

Dawnbreeze was the first one to venture into the hollow, slowly sliding down the edge and digging her claws into the rigid dirt. Nightstorm followed, skidding down to the bottom with Emberheart on her tail.

It was scattered with ferns and quite a few brambles, with even a small juniper berry bush growing in one corner.

"Juniper berries!" Dawnbreeze mewed excitedly, her light brown tail swishing from side to side. "It's used to treat bellyaches, coughs and breathing difficulties. When mixed with daisy or ragwort, it can even help with aching joints!"

Nightstorm couldn't help but smile at the medicine cat's enthusiasm. "We could build the medicine den around it," she pointed out.

Dawnbreeze's eyes lit up even further than they already had. "Yes! That would mean I wouldn't have to go out into the territory to find any juniper berries."

Blizzardfrost bent his head down, sniffing the ferns around them. "This place has been abandoned for a long time. I didn't smell any rogues on the way here, either."

Nightstorm shrugged. "They must all be in Twolegplace."

"Yeah, capturing innocent cats for no apparent reason," the grey tabby snorted.

Nightstorm rolled her eyes and swiftly changed the topic. "It'll need a bit of sorting out, but I think this place will work for a camp."

"So, we've got a location for the medicine den, but where will everything else go?" Dawnbreeze asked.

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to start planning."